Six drabbles
TITLE: Wrong Mech for the job
RATING: K
WARNING: None -
CHARACTER: Soundwave
VERSE: AU - pre war
SUMMARY: Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes at graduation?
Soundwave stared at the memo held in Laserbeak’s iron claws. “Soundwave, among top students,” he read aloud. “Chosen as valedictorian. Prepare Valedictory. Greatest Honor Iacon can bestow.”
Laserbeak looked at the piece of flimsy. Grinned. “Accept,” she insisted. “Accept,” she pleaded.
All the others who’d received familiar requests in previous semesters were unknown to them both. “Accept on my behalf?” The Cassette tried one last time when the communication mech remained unmoved.
“Soundwave, makes no promises,” Soundwave eventually said in response her endless demand to ‘Accept’. “Council makes final decision,” Soundwave warned the cassette. Demand best effort given. Challenge accepted.”
TITLE - Deal with it
AUTHOR - Rose0mary
RATING - Teens
WARNING - Broken hearts
CHARACTER(s) - Mikaela Banes, Wheelie
REALM - Bayverse, (pre DoTM, post RotF)
SUMMARY - Breakups are hard, but when one partner is an utter douche bag ...
Mikaela Banes sat outside K.O. Burger, waiting. Her lunch, cold and stale, no longer appealed. She looked at her wristwatch once more.
Mikaela decide enough was enough. She stood up, dropped the untouched meal in the waste bin and got on her moped. “Wheelie, next time you see Sam, pass on a message form me.”
“Sure, Warrior goddess,” the animated toy-sized monster truck jumped out of hiding. “What message?”
Mikaela told him.
“That’s harsh, Warrior goddess. “
Mikaela turned over the engine. “I’m tired of waiting, hearing nothing but lies. He made his choice clear. I’m just returning the favor.”
TITLE: Chasing after storms
RATING: PG
GENRE: General
CHARACTER(s): Megatron,
CONTINUITY: G1
SUMMARY: Underlying cause of betrayal is ... testing the waters?
“The next Orn is yours to do as you please. Dismissed.”
Megatron remained as still as a statue, watching as the all the seekers and those with flight-capable alt modes left the Decepticon base. A hurricane was brewing topside, yet they believed being bombarded by the wild winds was better than remaining confined to base.
“Soundwave, what is Starscream plotting?” His second-in-command seemed a bit eager to escape.
“Nothing. Starscream’s sole desire: fly deep into storm, chase after the worst winds. Test self against earth’s natural elements.”
Megatron shook his head. “My Air Command seeks to be a storm chaser.”
TITLE - Rescue
RATING - PG
GENRE - General
CHARACTER(s) - Skyfire, and Aerialbots
VERSE - Generation 1
SUMMARY Tourism may need to rethink accessibility
::Skyfire to Aerialbots: found the trapped humans. Please assist in evacuating::
Silverbolt’s team flew towards Skyfire’s signal. The large shuttle was too big to fit between the jagged mountains.
One by one, the Aerialbots hovered by the metal box dangling from a series of metal cables between the sheer cliffs. One by one, the trapped humans maneuvered into the open cockpits.
“FIREFLIGHT!”
The others watched in fascinated horror as the unloaded Fireflight nose-dived towards the lakebed thousands of feet below. He did not crash. “Take a look at the base guys! It looks like the ruins of a forgotten castle.”
TITLE: Public Protest
RATING: K+
WARNINGS: None
CHARACTERS: Smokescrean, Megatron
REALM: pre-war, AU (g1)
SUMMARY: First conflagrations start somewhere
The city-state of Praxus was stunned into stasis when Megatron began a series of protest within the confines of the city.
Everyone knew the Enforcers of Praxius did not deal with criminals - and protesting against the government, protesting against ‘unfair’ laws and discriminatory practices, was viewed as criminally inclined.
Smokescream shook things up even more, when he volunteered to talk to Megatron, in person. His reasoning? “Protesting is not illegal when no property is damaged, and no mechs are harmed. Why should we incarcerate him for pointing out the same problems in the senate and Council we’ve noticed ourselves?”
TITLE - Mail-reading
RATING - K+
GENRE/WARNINGS - None
CHARACTER - Red Alert
CONTINUITY -Generation 1
SUMMARY - Reading Private mail is a big no-no. Someone should have told him that.
Red Alert read everyone’s mail before passing it on. Every single memo, every note, every message - private or otherwise - that passed through his servos, got read by him before the intended receiver even knew of its existence.
The Ark crew hated the behavior, wrote it off as excessive paranoia. They lived with the knowledge that nothing private was private. After all, Red Alert never tampered with the mail - he might open it before hand, but it always got to its destination otherwise untouched. No signs of tampering existed, for the mail was never modified, diverted elsewhere, copied, or delayed.
When the humans learned of Red Alert’s unnatural behavior, instead of calling the security mech glitched beyond all reason and sanity, they diagnosed him with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Then, they ignored the symptoms, believing that by labeling Red’s driving need to know everything about everyone, it somehow lessoned the severity of the activity and breach of trust.
Both would be wrong. Red Alert broke new encryptions even as they were designed and implemented because he was insatiably curious about everyone and how they thought, not because he couldn’t handle surprises. No, Red, lacking empathy was teaching himself to act ‘normal’.